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Friday, November 15, 2013

If you missed it, be sure to check out the update on Corps and Criminals. The first draft of the book is now complete, and I"m awaiting feedback from some folks I've sent it to.

While waiting for that feedback, I decided to take some inspiration I got from reading Fields of Blood and Honor, a systemless guidebook to using arenas in your games, and begin work on another small supplement for Psi-punk.

World's Edge Arena is a gladiatorial blood sport which is televised worldwide and is quite popular. I drew a lot of inspiration from other modern/futuristic/Sci-Fi arenas like Mojoverse, Running Man, Thunderdome, and Smash TV.

Expect a distinctly Psi-punk twist to the World's Edge, though. There aren't many other arenas in which psychically-controled, cybernetically-enhanced panthers are the norm.

Here's the short introductory chapter:

World’s Edge Arena

At the edge of the world, in the still largely-untamed land
of Patagonia, there is a place where athletes, soldiers, street runners, and
thrill-seekers gather to test their mettle. The land is harsh, with relatively
low average temperatures and intense wind, but that’s not what draws these
people here. In this remote and unforgiving landscape lies a gladiatorial arena
where men, women, and animals of all stripes compete in deadly blood sports far
from the watchful gaze of governments and mega-corps.

Known as the World’s Edge Arena, this 50,000 square-foot
stadium of death was built in 2085 by young trillionaire Scott Turner. When asked why he built the
complex in Patagonia, Turner responded:

“I heard about this place in Chile called Punta Arenas.
Arenas. That’s just perfect for an arena, you know?”

The fact that Punta Arenas means “Sandy Point” was
completely lost on Turner.

Regardless of his motives, Turner built the World’s Edge
Arena to sate the public’s growing hunger for blood sports. Athletic
competitions throughout the world are too safe, he said in an interview, and
what the public really wanted to see was blood and gore and death. World’s Edge
offers all three.

“Why do people watch American-style football, or ice hockey,
or rugby?” asks Turner rhetorically. “For the violence, man! Deep down, we all
want to see people get crushed. And with the restrictions on cybernetics in
contact sports, we’re just not getting that anymore.”

“Sure,” he adds, “you can always tune into the cyberweight
kickboxing leagues, and that’s cool. I really love Tommy ‘Two Tons’ Thompson as
much as the next guy. But it’s like, at the end of the day, those guys just get
slapped with a couple stem packs and they’re good as new. Everyone knows there’s
no risk. People like risk. It’s exciting!”

At World’s Edge Arena, contestants enter a stadium with
constantly shifting terrain and environmental hazards. Men and women from all
walks of life enter in teams of one to eight and battle against carnivorous animals,
androids, and—during the season finals—other teams of live humans.

Each event is broadcast worldwide to millions of viewers
from any country where the matches haven’t yet been banned. An additional
100,000 rabid fans pack the stadium each night. Despite the broadcast already
being in its 11th season, World’s Edge ratings are still climbing at
a steady rate.

“I moved to Patagonia just to get to attend every match
live,” says super-fan Allen Greenspan, 32. “I just couldn’t justify the travel
expenses to my wife anymore. It’s like, I was spending so much time here, I
might as well just make Argentina my home.”

When corrected about Punta Arenas being in Chile, not
Argentina, Greenspan added: “Oh, right. Chile. Whatever. Hey, is this going to be
in the news? Hi Lisa! Wish you were here!”

The Real Full Contact Sport

Turner’s arena features what he claims to be “the most
realistic blood sport since Roman times.” Indeed, he modeled the competition
after ancient gladiatorial combat, albeit with a modern twist.

“We just replace spears and nets with guns and Tasers.
Instead of just throwing people to mundane lions, we pit them against
cybernetically-enhanced, mind-controlled beasts capable of human reasoning.
Those old-fashioned lions wouldn’t be much of a challenge against modern
weapons, you know?”

It isn’t just an open battlefield where opponents clash and
claw at each other until only one is left standing, either. Turner’s arena is
an indoor jungle with plenty of room to maneuver and hide. It takes a skilled
hunter to track and kill his enemy, and an alert hunter to avoid getting mauled
to death by a panther.

The dense vegetation would make for a terrible viewing
experience if it weren’t for the chase cams each contestant (including the
animals) wears. Viewers are treated to a first-person view of all of the
action, and real-time predictive algorithms are in place to ensure the best
view at all times.

“I just love when they cut to a shot of a panther stalking
up on some guy,” says Alita Monroe, 24. “The last thing he sees is his life
flash before his eyes, but we get to see the back of his exposed neck as the cat
rips into it!”

“It’s a djungle in
there,” remarks Gunther P., a college student from the GEU. “You never know who
ist going to get ze drop on whom.”

One might wonder how the arena manages to attract so many
contestants, when they each know their life may be forfeit just for entering.
To date, World’s Edge has a death toll of 4,257 men and women, not to mention
many more animals. Despite the decreased life expectancy of anyone who enters,
the sport’s numbers aren’t diminishing.

“We offer great cash prizes to all of the winners,” explains
Turner. “If you win an evening at the World’s Edge, you’re set for a year at
least. The lucky few who take first place might be set for life. However long
that may be.”

When asked about the supply of animals, many of which are
endangered species, Turner reveals his secret: “The animals, they’re all
clones. We’ve got those stupid animal rights activists barking at us all the
time as it is, there’s no way we could get away with using the real thing. But
clones, there’s and endless supply of those. And we recycle the parts.”

Too Legit to… Wait, What?

Despite its popularity, many world powers have tried to
bring an end to Turner’s operations. Governments, mega-corps, and local
authorities have allmade unsuccessful attempts to shut down the World’s Edge,
but Turner isn’t worried.

“We’re a totally legit operation, you know?” Turner said. “We
pay our one percent tax to Chile, and we operate in a country where blood
sports were totally made legal just before we moved in.”

Turner continues: “But other countries and companies want to
shut me down. MarkeTech doesn’t like that I run a sporting event they don’t
own. The NAU doesn’t like that I’m an expatriate and spending all my money in a
foreign country. And Punta Arenas, well, their cops are a bit concerned about
the increased crime rate as children emulate what they’re seeing on TV and at
our stadium.”

Even though he has a lot of enemies in high places, Turner
has a lot of friends in high places, too. World’s Edge is a popular sporting
event in the Oceanic League, the Asia-Pacific Union, and throughout the Greater
European Union. Only the Arab League and Sub-Sahara seem to have any complaints
about his broadcasts, and Turner doesn’t seem bothered by that.

“You know, they don’t have to like it. IF it’s not for them,
that’s cool.” Says Turner. “But the NAU, you know. They eat this stuff up, but
their government just wants to collect. But they’re not getting any from me.”

The Future of World’s Edge

World’s Edge Arena is in its 11th season and
still going strong. This year they expect to see less growth than in previous
years, but Turner believes that’s because they’ve already reached their
saturation point. Despite that, World’s Edge Arena is constantly looking for
new recruits to participate in the sport.

“We’ll take anyone with combat training, whether it’s formal
or informal,” says Turner. “We’ve had everything from GEU soldiers to cab
drivers with a lot of pent up road rage.”

Turner assures us the next season of World’s Edge is going
to be huge. “It’s going to be bigger and bloodier than ever. We’re still
looking for a few more teams for next season. And we have this big new event
planned that I don’t want to give away, but let’s just say it goes ‘RAAR!’”

This story brought to you by Celes Calderon, Independent
News Network.

Hopefully you enjoyed this first look. This supplement is still in its early stages of development, but I look forward to fleshing it out.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Remember back in September when I said I'd be posting more regular updates? Well, that was before I knew I had a baby on the way and an impending move. Sorry about that.

Just because I haven't updated in two months doesn't mean I haven't been working on Psi-punk though. The new Corps and Criminals book is coming along quite nicely. I have finished the first draft, and now it's a matter of refining, tweaking, and polishing.

The book now sits at 26,738 words, or about 71 mildly-formatted pages in MS Word.

Chapter 4: Mafias is complete with 7 mega criminal empires to add to your games. Each contains NPC write-ups for the mafia's leadership characters as well as stats for common mooks, thugs, and underlings.

If anyone is interested in doing some first-pass proofreading in exchange for a sneak peak at the book, let me know!

Fire Starters

In case you don't follow the Accessible Games Blog, I also recently released a systemless book called Fire Starters: 10 Adventure Seeds to Spark Your Cyberpunk Campaign. These adventure seeds are designed to help you get the imagination started if you're having trouble coming up with a plot for your cyberpunk campaign, and they fit particularly well with Psi-punk.